The Stranger Returns | |
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![]() US film poster | |
Directed by | Vance Lewis |
Screenplay by | Roberto Infascelli (as Bob Enescelle Jr.) Jone Mang |
Story by | Tony Anthony |
Produced by | Allen Klein Roberto Infascelli Massimo Gualdi |
Starring | Tony Anthony Dan Vadis |
Cinematography | Marcello Masciocchi |
Edited by | Renzo Lucidi |
Music by | Stelvio Cipriani |
Production companies | Compagnia Generale Cinematografica Primex Italiana Juventus Film Reverse Producers Corp. |
Distributed by | Generalcine (Italy) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (US) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Countries | Italy West Germany United States |
Languages | Italian English |
The Stranger Returns (Italian: Un uomo, un cavallo, una pistola, lit. A Man, a Horse, a Gun) also known as Shoot First... Laugh Last!, is a 1967 Italian-German-American Spaghetti Western film directed by Luigi Vanzi. It is a sequel to A Stranger in Town .
The film is the second in a series of four western films starring Tony Anthony as "The Stranger". [1]
Paul Mavis, of DVDTalk, reviewing the Warner Archive Collection 2015 DVD release of The Stranger Collection, wrote, "While they're not in the league of Leone (what is?), Anthony's grimy, sneaky little punk killer is an intriguing addition to the genre. Tony Anthony did some very interesting things with the spaghetti Western genre, including, perhaps, presaging the Trinity movies, while certainly "inventing" the West-meets-East subgenre." [2]
The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto and Joseph Egger. The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany and Spain, was filmed on a low budget, and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role.
Tony Anthony is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director best known for his starring roles in Spaghetti Westerns, most of which were produced with the aid of his friends and associates Allen Klein and Saul Swimmer. These films consist of The Stranger series - A Stranger in Town (1967), The Stranger Returns (1967), The Silent Stranger (1968) and Get Mean (1975) - and the Zatoichi-inspired Blindman (1971). Anthony also wrote, produced and starred in Comin' at Ya! (1981) and Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983), the first film being largely credited with beginning the 1980s revival of 3D films in Hollywood.
George Hilton was a Uruguayan actor well known for his many Spaghetti Western performances. Sometimes credited as Jorge Hilton, he appeared in over 20 Euro-Westerns as well as several giallo and action films.
Stelvio Cipriani, also known as Viostel, was an Italian composer, mostly of motion picture soundtracks, conductor and pianist.
Frank Braña was a Spanish character actor.
Pete, Pearl & the Pole, also known as 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York, is a 1973 Italian-American gangster film directed by Luigi Vanzi and starring Tony Anthony.
Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! is a 1967 spaghetti Western film directed by Giulio Questi and starring Tomas Milian, Marilù Tolo, Roberto Camardiel, and Ray Lovelock in his film debut.
Claudio Undari, known professionally as Robert Hundar, was an Italian film actor and stage actor, best known for his roles of "Bad Guy" in Spaghetti Western and "Poliziottesco" movies. He starred in about 40 movies between 1960 and 1980.
Blindman is a 1971 Spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi and co-written and co-produced by Tony Anthony. The film's protagonist, played by Anthony, is an homage to Kan Shimozawa's Zatoichi character: a blind transient who does odd jobs and is actually a high-skilled warrior.
Domenico "Mimmo" Palmara was an Italian actor.
The Ugly Ones is a 1966 Spanish-Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Eugenio Martín.
A Stranger in Town, released in the UK as For a Dollar in the Teeth, is a 1967 Italian-American Spaghetti Western film directed by Luigi Vanzi.
Django Shoots First is an Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Alberto De Martino.
Dead Men Ride is a 1971 Italian-Spanish spaghetti Western film directed by Aldo Florio.
Train for Durango is a 1968 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Mario Caiano.
Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas is a 1964 film written and directed by Piero Pierotti and starring Alan Steel. Originally conceived as a peplum film, given the contemporary success of A Fistful of Dollars, it was turned into a western film during the shootings, resulting in a bizarre crossover between the two genres. Although Alan Steel reverts to a Hercules-like character in the film's climax, the bulk of the film resembles a standard Spaghetti Western.
The Silent Stranger, also known as The Horseman and the Samurai and The Stranger in Japan, is a 1968 Spaghetti Western jidaigeki film directed by Luigi Vanzi. It is the second sequel to A Stranger in Town, with twenty minutes excised for its 1975 release. The film is the third in a series of four western films starring Tony Anthony as "The Stranger". Despite being produced in 1968 for MGM, the film was never given an official release until 1975, nearly a decade after the previous film in the series. Tony Anthony stated that he believed the film became the victim of a power struggle at MGM, and the film was re-edited when it was later released by a different studio.
Sabata the Killer is a 1970 Argentine comedy western film directed by Tulio Demicheli, written by Nino Stresa, scored by Marcello Giombini, and starring Anthony Steffen, Peter Lee Lawrence and Eduardo Fajardo. It is an unofficial sequel to Sabata.
Amerigo Castrighella is an Italian actor. He played 2nd Sombrero Onlooker at Tuco's 1st Hanging in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), and the executioner in Mark of Zorro (1975). He also appeared in Anything for a Friend (1973), and And They Smelled the Strange, Exciting, Dangerous Scent of Dollars (1973).